


A Very Merry Christmas

by ArielAquarial



Series: Family of Three [10]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe, Castiel is Claire Novak's Parent, Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Christmas Presents, Domestic, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Gabriel is a Novak, Gift Giving, M/M, No Angst, obnoxious Gabriel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-24
Updated: 2018-12-24
Packaged: 2019-09-26 11:37:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17141063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArielAquarial/pseuds/ArielAquarial
Summary: Dean and Cas's first Christmas together.Just some christmas fluff!





	A Very Merry Christmas

 

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**   
**December 23rd**   
**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

Dean folded his arms across his chest, his biceps flexed and bulging to the best of his ability. While he wasn’t much larger than Cas, an inch or two at the most, he still wasn’t above attempting intimidation if it got him his way. The only thing that Cas had on him was his amazingly thick thighs. Cas could choke him out with those babies any day. “Its my turn, Cas.”

Cas raised a single eyebrow, completely unimpressed with Deans show of muscle. “I don’t know your educational background, but I know that someone must have taught you how to properly take turns. You did it yesterday, so today is my turn.”

He clenched Tick-Tock tighter in his fist, unwilling to loosen his grip in the off chance that Cas might loose patience and make a grab for it. “Yeah, but you did it two days in a row, babe.” He took a step forward and cupped Cas’s face gently. If intimidation wouldn’t work, then perhaps his charm might. “Shouldn’t that mean its my turn again? Its only fair, Cas.”

Cas smiled at him, the gentleness in Deans tone softening his heart. “You could have been here, but you chose to go home. Of course I had to do it two days in a row…”

Dean sighed, dropping his hand. “I know, but I gotta go home sometime, right?”

Cas rolled his eyes. “I suppose, but that doesn’t change the fact that its my turn.”

Dean pushed his bottom lip out in a pout. “Please, Cas?”

Cas looked equal parts exasperated and amused. “Dean…”

“Cas, baby…please.” Dean took a step closer and wrapped his arms around Cas’s waist, nuzzling his face in Cas’s neck. “Come on. I’ll make it up to you, ok?”

Cas appeared to be considering it. “You will?”

Dean pulled back and frowned. “Within reason.”

Cas was shaking his head, his eyes twinkling. “Wasn’t it just a week ago that you said the whole idea of the Elf on the Shelf was dumb?”

Dean let out a groan. “I didn’t say that.”

Cas cocked an eyebrow. “You may not have said it, but the intent was clear.”

“Why you gotta be so smart?” Dean asked him, pulling Cas into a hug. “Why cant you forget stuff like a normal person?”

“Fine, Dean.” He finally relented. “You can put Tick-Tock out, but that’s only because I love seeing you proven wrong. I told you that you’d understand, didn’t I? Look at you now, begging to do it.”

He gasped. “You wound me.”

Cas rolled his eyes at Dean and gestured for Dean to move forward. “Well. I assume you had a great idea.”

Deans smile could have rivaled the sun. “I do! So, I was on-” Dean had to physically stop himself from admitting he had been on Pinterest, and instead paused to go over to the grocery bag he’d left by the door. “…the internet…and saw someone put the elf on a box of candy canes and then hid the candies for the kid to find. So, since she likes those applesauce squeeze things so much and you told her no candy until Christmas, I bought a bunch to hide!”

Cas was looking at him with affection clear in his eyes. “I think she’ll love that.”

Dean nodded and set the box down. “I was thinking on putting the elf on the mantle so she can see it when she comes out for breakfast.”

Cas held a hand out for the box. “Well then, lets start hiding them.”

  
**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**   
**December 24th**   
**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

Dean woke up to the thump-thump-thump of little feet running through the house. With a groan, he blinked the sleep out of his eye and sat up so he could peer over Cas and get a look at the alarm clock. 7:30 exactly. Claire must have been waiting for that damn green light to go on. Dean laid back down and snuggled into Cas, throwing his arm over Cas’s waist and running his fingers over Cas’s stomach.

Cas grunted in response, his eyes still closed and his eyebrows creased in the middle. “What time is it?”

“7:30.” He mumbled into Cas’s neck. “Claire’s coming in any minute.”

Just like clockwork, Dean heard the toilet flush and the sink turn on. It was less than a minute later that the footsteps were back, and headed towards the door. The door handle to Cas’s room had always been a bit stiff, and Clare always had a bit of a struggle opening it, so in the time between Claire grabbing the handle, and those first few twists, Cas yelled “Knock!” and she paused before banging on the door. They had talked to her countless times about knocking first if the door was closed, and she never seemed to remember.

Thankfully, she had only walked in on them once, interrupting a truly spectacular blowjob. The morning had been uncharacteristically cold, but despite this, both men had woken up hard and horny. To conserve warmth, Cas had wormed his way under the blanket and had proceeded to give Dean a messy blow job. It was so fucking good, in fact, that neither Dean nor Cas heard the sound of Claire running to the bedroom. The second the door flew open, Dean yelped and Cas choked on Deans cock. It could have been worse, Dean had figured, Cas could have bit his dick off. But no, Cas had popped up and told Claire to go to her room and get dressed for the day, giving them enough time to pull some sleep pants back on and calm down. The whole thing had been hilarious, in hindsight, but at the time his blue balls disagreed with him.

“Come in!” Dean called, and Claire yanked open the door.

“My light turned green!” She whispered and tried to close the door quietly behind her. Of course it didn’t work, and Cas flinched in his zombie like state at the noise, but it was the thought that counted. “Can I come in?”

Cas grunted and threw the blanket open in as much of an invitation she was likely to get until Cas had his coffee. She jumped on the bed and curled into her dads side, giving him a smacking kiss. “Good morning, Claire.” He grumbled, his voice cracking with sleep.

Dean stretched his arm out to include Claire in his morning cuddles, and sighed in happiness. “Good morning, Claire. Did you sleep alright?”

“Yeah!” She popped up and climbed over her dad so she could worm her way into the middle. Cas, merely grunted at the knee in his ribs. “Can we watch Simons Cat? I want the crow one.”

“Not yet, baby.” Dean stroked his fingers through her tangled hair. “Daddy is still sleepy, ok? Give him a few minutes.”

“Should I put my feet on him?” She asked, already preparing her icy feet for attack.

He reached under the blankets and grabbed her feet before she could make her move. “Not yet, ok?”

She pouted. “But he likes it!”

Dean laughed. “I doubt that.”

“Can I put my feet on you?”

Dean took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Sure.”

She smiled and put her cold feet on his stomach, giving Dean the chills instantly. “Thanks!”

He shook his head and settled back into the bed, hoping that Claire would give them a few more moments of silence before she started talking again.

He had no such luck. “Is uncle Gabe coming today? He said he was going to bring pie and I told him I want blueberry so he said ‘ok’.”

Dean shook his head. “Nope. He’s coming tomorrow, remember? Today is Christmas eve, and he’s coming on Christmas.”

“Tomorrow is Christmas!” She screeched. “Santa’s coming and he’s gonna bring me presents and Daddy said I can make cookies and leave him some and daddy said I can only have one of the cookies and da rest are for Santa, but when I was at the mall yesterday I saw Santa and daddy let me take a picture with him ta send ta family and Santa said it was a good idea to leave out some carrots for da reindeer e’cause dey get hungry but we don’t gots some carrots because daddy doesn’t like dem so we go ta da store today and buy dem. Ok?”

Dean, who had zoned out halfway through her tirade, nodded in agreement to whatever she was saying. “Sure thing, Claire. Whatever you want.”

Cas finally tolled over and cracked his eyes open. “I do not want to go to the grocery store on Christmas eve, Dean.”

“Oh, so you are alive.”

Cas glared at him. “I’m getting coffee.”

Dean watched as he shuffled out of his room and into the hallway. He turned back to Claire. “Don’t worry, ok? I’ll take you to the store. Daddy’s just being grumpy.”

“Daddy doesn’t like da morning.” She whispered, giving him a serious look. ‘He gotsta have his adult drink.”

Dean smiled. “Yeah. Only adults can drink coffee, right?”

She nodded. “But daddy sometimes makes me peppermint tea and when my tummy hurts he lets me have some of dat.”

Dean pressed a kiss into her temple and arranged her into his side until her head was resting on his shoulder. “Lets turn on the tv, ok?”

“Simons Cat!” She yelled in excitement. “I want da crow one, please.”

He dug around in the side table until he was able to find the remote to Cas’s smart tv and opened the youtube app. Within minutes, Simons Cat was on and Claire was giggling at the cat’s antics. Dean smiled happily at the tv, incredibly pleased with his life. He practically lived with an amazing man and his equally amazing daughter, was about to spend his first Christmas with Cas, Claire, and Gabe, and in a few minutes he’d get up to make a potato fry up so good Cas’s toes would curl. This was his life now and he was loving it.

Cas walked into the room, two cups of coffee in hand, and a warm smile on his face. “Here, Dean. Drink up, we have a long day ahead.”

“Oh yeah?”

Cas put his half full coffee cup down and slipped back into bed. Before he answered, he pulled his bullet journal off of the table and waved it at Dean. “Tomorrow is Christmas, Dean, and we’re hosting. Of course we have a full day.” He opened the bullet journal and cleared his throat. “We need to start prepping for tomorrow. I have a full list and timetable, which I will print out for you while you’re making breakfast. We need to make sure Claire cleans her room so she has room for her new toys, get everything ready prepped for dinner tomorrow, freshen up the guest room for Gabriel, give the house a good scrub, and chop up some of the firewood for tonight and tomorrow. I want to watch at least 2 Hallmark movies tonight Dean, and that is non negotiable. Don’t forget that you volunteered to get carrots from the grocery store, and finally, we need to finish wrapping presents and make some cookies for Santa and Tick-tock.”

“Tick-tock!” Claire yelled, finally remembering she needed to go find him. The tv forgotten, she climbed over Dean and jumped onto the floor. “Come on! We gotsta go find Tick-tock!”

Dean relented to her tugging, and threw the blankets off of himself so he could get to her feet. He let himself pause to stretch out his sleep loosened muscles and followed Claire out of the bedroom, turning back just in time to see Cas doing the same. “Can we change that to one Hallmark movie? I don’t know if I can handle two.”

Cas’s expression showed no sympathy. “No.”

He knew better than to argue. “Fine, two…but you better make it up to me later.”

“I will attempt to.”

Dean bit his lip, hoping that the attempt included a bed. Speaking of bed... “Why are we getting the guest room ready? Gabe lives twenty minutes away.”

“He likes to have a few drinks after Claire goes to bed. Last year he was too drunk to drive home and passed out in my bed. I took the couch rather than share.”

“Great.” Dean grunted. While Dean liked Gabriel, he really did, it was always better to experience him in small doses. The last time he had seen the man was last month when he took Claire to Gabe’s family baking class and they made a delicious garlic herb loaf of bread. Those three hours had been more than enough. How that obnoxious man stayed in business was a mystery to him, but people seemed to love him. The idea of him spending the night, and surely overstaying his welcome the next morning, was not sitting well with him. “I’m hiding the alcohol.”

“That would be for the best.” He stepped out of the way as Claire wandered around the kitchen, opening a few drawers to see if that was where Tick-tock hid. “Gabriel gets into a lot of trouble when he drinks. Remind me to bring up the time he was chased down by a police dog. He has a set of scars as a reminder. There was nudity involved, Dean. He’s lucky he didn’t get anything bit off. Trust me, the story is always better told when he’s here.”

Dean laughed. “Cant wait.”

Claire’s gasp stopped all conversation. “Tick-tock!” They turned just in time to see Claire jumping with excitement as she pointed to Tick-tock. “Look! Silly Tick-tock…he’s on the fireplace!”

Dean pasted on a surprised look. “What?! How did he get up there? Silly Tick-tock!”

She turned to him, eyes wide. “Tick-tock has magic, so he flewed.”

“No way!” Dean scooped her up. “But what is this? There’s a note!”

She bounced on his hip with excitement. “He had a box of squeezy sauce! What does it say?”

He snatched the note, careful not to disturb the elf. “It says, ‘Can you find all 8?’. Do you know what that means, Claire?”

She shook her head. “No! What?”

“It means hat he hid the squeezy sauces for you to find!”

“Wow! Dats so cool!”

He set her down. “Better go find them, Claire! There’s 8!”

“Eight!” She repeated, running off to the kitchen and beginning her search there.

Dean watched her go with a smile. Holidays were always awesome, but experiencing it again with a kid was fuckin-

Lips were on his, slick and demanding. Dean may have squeaked in surprise, but he quickly forgot all embarrassment when he felt Cas’s warm tongue at his lips. He opened eagerly, relishing in Cas’s groan. In the back of his mind, he knew Claire was less than 15 feet away, but he didn’t care. They kissed in front of her all of the time. Hell, it was probably good that she saw them being tender and intimate so she could see what love looked like. Usually, though…they didn’t get this into it. Dean had to stop his hands from reaching around and grabbing two handfuls of Cas’s ass, but Cas seemed to have no such qualms about pressing his body close to Deans.

“Cas…” Dean muttered into the kisses, unwilling to stop, but still wanting Cas to remember his daughter was in the room.

That seemed to do the trick, because Cas let off slightly and slowed down the kissing to something more appropriate for a minor to witness. “Have I told you-” kiss. “-how much I-” another kiss. “-love you yet?”

Dean smiled into Cas’s light pecks. “Not yet.”

“Well…” he nipped at Deans bottom lip. “I love you.”

Dean smiled. “I love you too, babe.”

“Got one!” Claire yelled, an applesauce squeezer clutched in her hand. “Can I eat it now?”

“You have to find the other ones too, sweetie.”

“But I want ta eat it now! Please?” she begged, her blue eyes pleading. “I’ll find dem later.”

Dean pouted. “Fine. But just know, Tick-tock probably spent a lot of time hiding those apply sauces and you should at least say thank you.”

“Thank you Tick-tock!”

“Yes.” Cas added. “Thank you, Tick-tock.”

Claire plopped down on the couch and turned to them. “I’ll find you a squeezy too, ok Dean? Daddy too.”

“Thank you Claire.”

She turned back to her applesauce, completely ignoring the two men in the room.

Cas grabbed Deans arm and pulled Dean into the kitchen. “Lets get started on breakfast, ok?”

“You do it.” Dean grumbled. “I’m just going to stand in here and watch Claire _not_ look for all of the applesauce’s I hid around the house.”

Cas grabbed the eggs out of the refrigerator and handed them off to Dean. “She’s still going to look for them.”

“I know, I just wanted to see her reaction when she finds the one I stuck under her pillow.” With a shake of his head, Dean started cracking eggs into a bowl and scrambling them. “Its not important, I guess.”

“Dean.” Cas put his arm around his waist. “We’ll start the search after breakfast, ok? I think she was just hungry.”

He couldn’t fault Cas’s logic. “I guess.”

“After breakfast, ok?”

Dean craned his neck so he could pull Cas into a kiss. “Ok.”

After breakfast, Claire _did_ seem excited about finding the treats. Once she found the remaining 7, Cas had her put them in the fridge and made her promise that she wouldn’t eat more than one more today. Left to her own devices, and Dean learned this the hard way, Claire could eat her way into a stomach ache. She was an active little girl, with her swimming lessons and constant energy, but put a pizza in front of her and she’d eat herself sick.

The first thing on Cas’s list, and in Deans opinion the most important, was prepping for tomorrows dinner. On the menu was ham, homemade dinner rolls, green bean casserole, mashed potaotes, and some roasted vegetables. Gabriel was in charge of dessert, and he had it on good authority that he would be bring two different pies. Knowing Gabriel, one of those pies would be experimental, but Dean was always willing to try out new flavors of pie. Deans job was to pre chop the vegetables for roasting. Butternut squash, carrots, parsnips, and sweet potatoes all went into a Tupperware container for the next day, waiting for their coating of oil and seasonings. Cas was getting started on the homemade rolls. Apparently, you could let them prove in the fridge overnight so all you had to do was toss them in the oven to bake. Last on the list was peeling and chopping the potatoes for the mash. Dean, unfortunately, had that job.

Once Cas was done with the casserole, and it was sealed and in the fridge, he sat down on the barstool and got started on the plan of attack for the next day.

The Trager, a gift from Gabriel, was a modern fucking marvel. It functioned as both a smoker and an oven, using wood pellets to heat it. Dean made beef jerky in that thing almost once a week. It was an expensive hobby, since the meat wasn’t exactly cheep, but it was well worth it to have a steady supply of beef jerky in whatever flavor you wanted whenever you wanted it. The ham would turn out amazing in it, and it would free up the oven for the rolls and casserole. The rolls, according to Cas, should be cooked first, followed by the cassarole (since it would hold its heat the longest), and then the vegetables. The mashed potatoes would only need to be slapped on the burner 30 minute before dinner and them mashed and seasoned.

Taking his time, and secretly hoping Cas would finish changing the sheets in the guest room before he got back, Dean wandered over to Claire’s room to check on her cleaning progress. She did pretty well for a 4, almost 5, year old. Did she end up just shoving most of the stuff to the side, leaving the middle of the room clear of all toys and dirty clothes? Yes. But really, what did anyone expect from a kid?

After giving her a few instructions (“No, Claire. You cant shove the clothes under the bed. That’s how we lost your fox shirt, remember? Put it in the hamper.”), he returned in time to help Cas put on a new duvet cover.

By the time the sun went down, and Claire was finally put to bed, Dean was ready to hit the sack himself.

“No, Dean. We’re watching movies together. Remember?” Cas pinned him with a look. “You promised me.”

Dean groaned loudly. “But I’m tired!” he whined.

“Fall asleep, that’s fine, but please stay with me. I do this every year and its somewhat of a tradition of mine.”

“But these Christmas movies are so bad!”

Cas shrugged. “Yes they are, but that’s the point. They’re easy to watch and don’t require any thought.”

Dean huffed. “Fine.”

Cas patted the couch, beckoning Dean to sit next to him. Once he did, Cas curled into Deans side and sighed happily. “Will you help me pick the movie?”

He couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes. “They’re all the same, Cas.”

“Fine.” He huffed. “Then you cant complain about my choice.”

Cas ended up choosing a movie he’d recorded on his DVR called The Spirit of Christmas. The movie was kinda dumb, and the acting wasn’t great, but the ghost dude was smoking hot. By the time the movie was over, and they lived happily ever after, Dean had to admit he kinda enjoyed it.

**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**   
**December 25th**   
**o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o.O.o**

They awoke to a shriek. “Santa came! Daddy, Dean, Santa came!”

Dean smiled against his pillow, letting out a tired huff of laughter. “Looks like she saw the presents.”

Cas’s only reply was a grumble.

“Merry Christmas, Cas. I’m gonna go and get a pot started.” He sat up slowly and pulled on a t-shirt before leaving the room to get a large pot of coffee going. Cas was going to need it this morning, since they didn’t get to bed until past midnight. Gabe would want some too despite his seemingly unending supply of energy. How that man hadn’t died yet, what with all of the caffeine and sugar he consumed, was beyond Dean.

Claire was on the couch in the living room, staring at the Christmas tree in awe. “Dean! Did you see? Santa came!”

Dean smiled and gave her a quick kiss before he got started on the coffee. “He did, didn’t he? Look at all of the presents. You must have been a very good girl this year.”

“Yeah! I was a very good girl.” She walked up to the tree and eyed the presents. “Look it! This one says my name! C-L-A-I-R-E!”

He pulled the overnight French toast out of the fridge and set the oven too preheat. “You better not touch the presents, Claire. You know you have to wait for uncle Gabriel…”

“I know.” She wined. “But dis one has my name.”

“Why don’t you find one with my name.”

Claire jumped to the task, and Dean was able to focus on making breakfast. Gabriel would be over by 8 so he could join them for breakfast and present opening, so he had to get a move on the French toast. As soon as Cas got up and grabbed his coffee, he would want to hurry things along so he could get started on the early dinner. Hopefully, Gabe could help Dean keep Claire busy so she stayed out of the kitchen. Kids were great at getting in the way.

There was a polite nock on the front door a second before it burst open. Gabe, dressed in an obnoxious Christmas sweater and what had to be bright red womans leggings, was standing in the door, a bag slung over his shoulder. “Look who has presents!”

Claire jumped up from her crouched position and ran at her uncle. “Uncle Gabe!”

He dropped the sack of presents and picked her up. “If it isn’t my favorite niece! That’s a lot of presents, Claire. You must have been a good girl this year. I didn’t get as many, so I must have been a bad, bad boy…”

Dean rolled his eyes and shoved the french toast into the oven. “Mornin’ Gabe.”

“Hey, Dean-o!” Gabe singsonged, bringing Claire into the kitchen with him. “Is Cassie up yet?”

“He’s working on it.” Dean told him confident that Cas was at least attempting to get up. There was no way he’d stay in bed on Christmas morning.

“Speak of the devil!” At Gabe’s exclamation, Dean turned to see Cas slowly shuffling his way into the kitchen. His bleary eyes squinted in annoyance at Gabe’s yelling.

“Its far too early for that kind of volume.” He grumbled at his brother, making a b-line for the coffee pot. He poured himself a generous cup and added a splash of hazelnut creamer. “Can your usual antics wait until I’ve finished my coffee?”

“You’re no fun, Cassie.” He turned to Claire. “You’re daddy isn’t any fun in the mornings, isn’t he. No fun at all. Should we try Dean?”

“No.” he answered, not even turning from where he was digging around in the fridge for the maple syrup.

“Looks like its just you and me, Claire.” He set her down on the floor and stuck out her hand for him to grab. “Why don’t we go to your room, ok? I have something in my bag for you. It’s a pre-present present.”

As soon as they were alone, Cas let out a groan and made his way to Dean. “Why do people traditionally open presents in the morning?”

He held open his arms, and embraced Cas’s hunched form. “Do you think Claire could wait until night time?”

Cas shook his head, his messy hair tickling Deans chin. “Of course not, but it would be much more convenient for me...”

Dean snorted and kissed Cas on the forehead. “I gotta take the French toast out.”

Cas let him go and watched as Dean bustled around the kitchen. “Thank you for making breakfast. I’ve never done overnight French toast before.”

“Its kinda a Winchester tradition. Mom used to make it every major holiday. Easter, Thanksgiving, and of course Christmas. Dad would help her before he died, but I took his place. It helped me feel closer to him, you know? I wasn’t any good at it, but I was still hell bent on helping.”

“I think its sweet.” Cas took another hot sip of coffee. “Are we going to meet your mother soon?”

Dean stiffened. “Uh, yeah. Do you want to?”

“I do.”

He nodded slowly, his lips pinched together. “Yeah, I guess we can do that. Its been, what…7 months?”

Cas shrugged. “I believe so. I’m not trying to rush you, Dean. We can do this at your pace, but I did overhear the conversation with your mother last week.”

“Yeah.” He rubbed at his neck. “She’s been like that ever since Sammy and I moved out. She just gets too excited whenever there are new people in our lives. She’s scared people away before, Cas, so I’ve been a little…”

Cas smiled at him. “I am well versed in overbearing parents, Dean. Why do you think you haven’t met my mother yet? Take as much time as you need. I just wanted you to know that I understand, and am willing to introduce my family to yours.”

Dean groaned and pulled Cas into a kiss. “What did I do to deserve you? You’re the best, Cas.”

He laughed. “I doubt that.”

“Come on, babe…you’re smart, sexy, kind, sexy, loyal, sexy, you have an adorable daughter, super sexy…did I say sexy?”

Cas laughed. “Dean…I hope you’re not angling for something. I refuse to have sex with you while my brother is in the house.”

“Damn.” He muttered, pressing his lips into Cas’s throat. “I’m just going to have to make sure Gabe doesn’t stay the night, aren’t I?”

Cas turned, capturing Deans lips in a light kiss.

“May I present-” they turned to see Gabe in his awful sweater in the doorway, blocking Claire from their view. “Claire Novak!”

He stepped to the side and revealed Claire, wearing what Dean could only describe as a hot mess. Gabriel _had_ to have made it himself, because there was no way he could have bought that at the store. Tinsel lined the collar and cuffs of a red sweatshirt, looking itchy and uncomfortable, but Claire was waving her arms around like she didn’t care at all. Fairy lights were wound around the whole thing, so it twinkled merrily in the dim morning light. A fabric mockup of a tree sat front and center, bunched up to give dimension and texture, a few cheap plastic ornaments hung from where their strings were glued onto the fabric.

Claire looked so happy with it that Dean forced himself to stifle his laughter. “Wow, Claire…that is quite the Christmas sweater…”

“Its lovely, Claire.” Cas stepped in, his poker face in full effect. “Did you tell your uncle thank you?”

Claire shook her head. “Thank you uncle Gabe!”

He smiled at her, pride clear on his face. “You’re welcome, short stack. Now, is breakfast ready? I have some presents that will blow your simple minds.”

Cas shook his head and passed Dean some pot holders so he could take breakfast out of the oven. Breakfast was a short affair, both because Claire was to excited about opening presents to eat, and because Gabriel shoveled down half of he casserole dish singlehandedly.

They gathered in the front room, around the twinkling tree, and Cas stepped in to hand out the presents. Claire, aware she had to wait until all of the presents had been passed out, bounced in her seat, a present held in her hands.

At Cas’s nod, and a fond. “Go ahead, sweetie…” Claire tore into the box, stripping it of decorated paper in mere seconds. Inside was a Paw Patrol puzzle with Sky and Everest on it. She fawned over it for a few moments before moving to the next. Cas was smiling at Claire, clearly caught up in the joy of a child opening her presents from Santa. Gabe, on the other hand, was tearing though every present in record time, barely even pausing to see who it was from.

With a smile, Dean picked up his first box, a small gift from Gabe, and opened it to reveal a box of homemade cookies. That was, truly, the best case scenario. He smiled and thanked Gabriel, just happy that he hadn’t been gifted a glitter bomb. He looked up just in time to see Cas pick up a red envelope. At reading the name on the card, Cas looked up at him.

“I know its early, but…” Dean trailed off and eyed the envelope to Cas with pink cheeks.

Cas smiled in encouragement and slid his finger under the seal. Inside was a sheet of paper, folded in thirds. It was a printout that looked like it was taken straight from an email. It took him longer than it should to realize what it was, but when he did, he gasped. “Is this..”

Dean smiled shyly and nodded. “I know its not until July, but I wanted to make sure you could go…”

“Dean.” His throat was too thick with emotion to continue, but he cleared it and tried anyway. “How did you know about this?”

Now, Dean smiled. “I heard Charlie talking about registering early, and I got curious. I figured this is right up your alley.”

“What’d you get him?” Gabe asked, his mouth already full of the candy he had pulled out of his stocking.

Cas ignored him. “I’ve always wanted to go to Costume College, but I’ve never felt comfortable going alone. You said Charlie will be attending?”

“Yeah! Charlie would love to show you around! Apparently, she goes every year.” He gestured for the paper. “Once I looked it up and saw the classes they offer, I knew I had to get you a ticket.”

Cas reached out a hand, and once Dean took it, he pulled him forward until he was practically in Cas’s lap. “Thank you Dean, I love it.”

Dean leaned in for a kiss, only ending it when Gabriel poked Dean in the side. “What is it?”

Cas glared at his brother at the interruption. “Dean purchased me tickets to Costume College. It’s a convention that offers classes, workshops, and panels all about costuming.”

Dean jumped in. “Charlie says its Comic Con for costumers.”

“Right…” Gabe drawled. “Whatever tingles your berries, Cassie...”

Cas frowned at his brother, but ultimately decided to ignore him. “Thank you, Dean. I love it.”

“You’re welcome, babe.”

Cas cleared his throat. “My gift to you is the large box.”

He picked it up, curiosity overwhelming him. Dean could only guess at its contents. It was large, probably somewhere around 3X4 feet, but not heavy at all. An art print, maybe? He tore off the paper and used his finger to break the tape holding the box together. Inside, styrofoam held the corners of a large frame. The frame itself was further wrapped in protective bubble wrap, obscuring the picture inside it. He tugged the whole thing loose, pushing off the styrofoam corner protectors and peeling off the bubble wrap.

It was like one of those stupid clickbait articles that you see on Facebook, ‘What she saw froze her in her tracks…’, but this was real life and Dean sat, staring at the poster, frozen in shock. “Cas?”

“Yes, Dean?” he answered, amusement clear on his voice.

“Is this?”

“Is this what?”

Dean peered around the poster, his eyes already misting. “Cas…”

“I thought you could put it in your office at the shop.”

Dean gasped, hugging it to his chest. “No way, this is going in my garage with baby. Fuck, I need to put the bubble wrap back on it. If this thing gets damaged....”

“Oh my god, Dean. What the hell is it?” Gabe leaned over, reaching out to touch it, but was stopped by a growled warning.

“Touch this and I’ll kill you.”

Cas laughed. “Let him see it, Dean.”

Dean let out a whine. “But he’ll get his sticky fingers all over it.”

“I wont touch it!” he defended. “I just want to see it.”

With a warning in his eyes, he set the poster down in front of Gabriel. “Fine.”

“That’s it?” Gabe asked, disbelief clear on his face. “No offence, Cassie, but its just a poster.”

“Just a poster?” Dean repeated. _“Just_ a poster? Gabriel…let me teach you something. This-” he gestured to the man in the poster. “-is Robert Plant. The lead singer of Led Zeppelin. Lyrical genius. And this?” he gestured to the writing scrawled in the bottom corner. “Is his goddamn signature!”

“Cool.” Gabe replied with the simplicity of someone who recognized it as something that was cool, but not really caring otherwise.

“I may have a friend who deals in collectables…” Cas hedged. “He gave me a deal on it, I promise.”

“Cas.” Dean huffed, framed poster clutched back to his chest. “Would it be weird if I cried over a poster?”

“I promise I wont judge.”

“I will!” Gabe piped in.

“Shut up.” Dean muttered, discretely wiping the moisture from his eyes. “Thank you, Cas.”

“Your welcome.”

“Does your friend have more collectables like this?” he asked hopefully.

“I can give you his contact information. Balthazar is very good at acquiring items like this.”

Dean sighed happily and rewrapped the poster with bubble wrap, being careful to put the styrofoam back on and tuck it into the box as gently as he could. After the poster was properly put away, and then moved to the side so there wouldn’t be any accidents, Dean crawled over to where Cas was and plopped himself into Cas’s lap so he could give the man a proper hug. Claire, who had finally ran out of presents to unwrap, decided to join in on the fun and shoved at Dean until there was room for her to squeeze onto Deans lap.

“Did you see what Santa got me? I gots a Barbie with da pink car! Just like I asked for!”

“Yeah?” Dean asked, feeling guilty that he had missed her opening her presents. “What else?”

“I gots a puzzle from uncle Gabe, and da Legos from daddy and some other ones. Do you wanna play Barbie’s wif me? I have two.”

“Of course, Claire-bear.” Dean climbed off Cas’s lap and went over to Claire’s decently sized pile of gifts. “I’d love to play Barbie’s with you.”

“I’m going to get you a doll house for your birthday.” He told her. “How does that sound?”

“My birfday is far away…” she reminded him, and handed him Barbie’s friend. “But you can get me one, ok?”

“Ok.” Dean smiled, confident that he would still be in their lives when Claire’s birthday finally rolled around. Hell, they were it for him. Endgame. Dean already knew he wanted to marry Cas, and he was even planning on asking Cas if he could officially adopt the brat when the time was right. Unfortunately, they didn’t even technically live together yet, so there was a ways to go before he could marry Cas.

He’d just have to take it one step at a time.

**Author's Note:**

> As always, leave me a comment letting me know if you like it!
> 
> I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season!


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